Weapon system moves @USArmyReserve gunners to the safety of the backseat

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. -- "Riding shotgun" in the Army Reserve is moving to the backseat and gunners could be better off because of it. Traditionally, the gunner sits in the vehicle's turret during convoys, where he is exposed to gunfire and explosions and vulnerable to injury during a vehicle rollover. But now the Army Reserve is receiving a weapon technology that will allow the gunner to sit safely in the backseat. Known as the CROWS, for "common remotely operated weapon station," it's a big hunk of steel mounted to the top of a vehicle, equipped with daytime and thermal cameras, capable of rotating 360 degrees and seeing up to 1,500 meters away. Sgt. Michael Whitaker, Army Reserve Soldier with the 346th Military Police Company of Fort Riley, Kansas, praised the $190,000 weapon system, saying he loved that it would keep gunners out of harm's way. "They're inside the protecti...